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On Friday, a jury found Jose Oliveira-Coutinho guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of theft in connection with the deaths of Vanderlei, Jaqueline and Christopher Szczepanik.

Then hours later in an aggravation hearing, the same jury found enough evidence for a panel of three judges -- including Judge Thomas Otepka who handled Oliveira-Coutinho's case -- to decide on the death penalty.

Aggravation hearings are standard procedure in death penalty cases under Nebraska state law. The jury has to find evidence of at least one aggravating circumstance in a committed crime before the three judges decide on a death penalty sentence. In Oliveira-Coutinho's case, the jury found a total of six aggravating circumstances.

Oliveira-Coutinho is one of three accused in the Szczepanik family killings.

As the guilty verdict was read around noon on Friday, Oliveira-Coutinho appeared emotionless as he listened to his Portuguese interpreter through headphones.

Tatiane Klein, eldest daughter of the Szczepaniks, on the other hand, cried out in joy.

According to her friend, Klein was worried about the verdict because she felt the evidence against Oliveira-Coutinho wasn't very strong.

Klein said she plans to stay in the U.S. until the third man accused in the case, Elias Lourenco-Batista, is extradited from Brazil.

Douglas County prosecutors said they are still working with the state department to make that happen, but so far their attempts have been unsuccessful.

Valdeir Goncalves-Santos was nearing the end of his murder trial last year, when he made a deal to plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Oliveira-Coutinho and Lourenco-Batista.

Prosecutors said the three men worked for the Szczepaniks. The family was living in Omaha while the father worked renovating a former school.

In court, a detective said that Vanderlei Szczepanik was beaten and his wife, Jacqueline, and son, Christopher, were hanged at their home. Their bodies were then cut and dumped into the Missouri River.

The family was last seen Dec. 17, 2009.

The bodies of Vanderlei and Jacqueline have not been found, but divers recovered the boy's body nearly a year ago.

Oliveira-Coutinho will learn if he'll be put on death row in the next month or so.